THIS cheeky little monkey finally gets to bond with his mum after being fostered by humans for the first year of his life.

Pongo was fostered by zoo keepers as his mother recovered from a caesarean birth [CATERS]

Pongo the baby orangutan snuggles up to his mother Blaze, although she seems to play it cool by inspecting her nails.

But the heart-warming scene is a huge breakthrough for Blaze as she begins to accept little Pongo as her own.

He was fostered by zoo keepers as his mother recovered from a caesarean birth.

As a wide-eyed newborn he clung to keepers who fed him and cared for him, often wrapped in furry orange rugs to look as much as possible like Blaze.

At first, the mother and her first-born son were only allowed to see each other through the mesh of their cages.

Pongo the baby orangutan snuggles up to his mother Blaze [CATERS]

After several weeks of consistent daily introductions, Blaze and Pongo began living together full-time and have been bonding ever since

A spokesman

After two months Blaze at last reached out to him, and he reacted instinctively by reaching out to her too.

From then on the pair were able to spend every day together before he was returned to the nursery every evening.

But now the pair have been successfully reunited, though Pongo is still given supplementary feeds at Atlanta Zoo.

A spokesman for the US zoo, home to 13 orangutans, said: “The story of Blaze and Pongo is our most heart-warming of the year. Blaze initially had to learn to develop maternal skills following her son’s birth by caesarean section last January.

“For months the newborn received round-the-clock nursery care from a dedicated team of zoo staff and volunteer nurses while animal care professionals worked to introduce Pongo to his mother.

“After several weeks of consistent daily introductions, Blaze and Pongo began living together full-time and have been bonding ever since.”